Before signing on to the new Yellowstone spinoff Marshals, Luke Grimes had to make a difficult phone call—to his longtime co-star Kelsey Asbille, whose character would not be joining him.
The series, which premiered Sunday, March 1, on CBS, revealed in its first episode that Monica Dutton (Asbille) had died off-screen following a cancer diagnosis. The confirmation ended months of fan speculation, as Asbille was never listed as part of the spinoff cast.
Grimes, 42, who reprises his role as Kayce Dutton, admitted he was “heartbroken” by the narrative choice. “It felt like, ‘I don’t even know what that would look like doing it without her, what that would feel like.’ Kelsey’s become one of my best friends,” he told TV Insider. “She’s the coolest actor I’ve ever worked with. She’s down to earth, sweet and kind to every other actor and the crew.”
Before agreeing to the spinoff, Grimes felt he needed to speak directly with Asbille, 34. “I worked up the courage to call. I didn’t know how she was going to feel about it,” he said. “I had to see how she was doing.”
The conversation went well. “In true Kelsey fashion, she handled it like a pro and totally understood,” Grimes shared. “She’s going to do just fine.”
Marshals creator Spencer Hudnut explained that Monica’s death was necessary to propel Kayce into a new chapter. After Yellowstone’s finale, in which Kayce sold the Dutton land to Chief Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham) and found peace, the creative team needed to shake things up.
“We had to shake up his life, to get him off the ranch and into a new position,” Hudnut said.
The decision also carries thematic weight. “It’s about a bigger issue,” Hudnut noted. “Reservations have a high rate of cancer because of all the toxins that have been dumped on them. We wanted to make her death about a bigger issue. We wanted to be very respectful of that character.”
Grimes had previously told PEOPLE he was hesitant about a spinoff unless the story was compelling. “If it was just like, ‘well, he’s happy’—we’re just going to watch him be happy? That’s not very cool,” he said. “But the idea that was pitched to me is very, very good and very interesting and it really roped me in.”
New episodes of Marshals air Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.
